Pneumatic tire.



J. H. BROWN.

"PIIEIII/I/ITIC TIRE;

APPLICATION FILED IUIIEIQ, |912.

1l IQIQ Patented Aug. 28, 1917.

QSUifkI/Leowo: gm

il li runnen-irre unan.

Specification of Lettere-Patent.

Patented huent, 3.91%',

ilpplicatou filed June 19, 1912. Serial No. 794,637'. g

To all whom t may Concern:

Be 1t known that .loins ii. Brown, of

vllew York city, in the county of bl ew York,

and in the State of New Yorin have invented a certain new and useful improvement .in Pneumatic Tires, and do hereby declare; that the following is a full, clear, and exact description thereof.

The object of my invention has been to provide a pneumatic tire having a tread of compressed rubber so that when a puncture occurs in. the tread the rubber shall expand and iill the puncture and prevent the escape of air, and to such ends my invention consists in the pneumatic tire hereinafter specilied.

lin the accompanying drawings:

Figure 1 is a side elevation of a portion of a pneumatic tire embodying my invention; and

Fig. 2 is a transverse sectional view of Fig. 1.

in illustrating my invention l have chosen the best embodiment known to me, but such embodiment is to be regarded as typical only of many possible embodiments, and my invention is not to be restricted to the particular embodiment shown.

My tire is specially intended for use as.V

the inner tube of va double-tubed tire, but it is capable of use as a single-tube tire.

My tire consists of a rubber tube 1, have ing a thiclrenedltread 2, which isheld in compression by a compression band 8. The said band extends across the tread ofthe tire, preferably a little below l'the rubber surface thereof, and 'extends down thesides of the tube, and thence diagonally inwardl until its edges nearly, but not quite, reach the inner surface of the tube. The rubber beneath and inclosed by the compression band is placed under compression by malr-v ing the tire wrong side out, according to the process, which is the subject of my companion application, executed June fth, 1912, and then turning the said tire right side out. As the compression band cannot substantially expand, the rubber .is compressed by till) this operation.

The rubber which l find most suitable from which to make my tire is good live rubber. l make the tread of sufficient thickness so that any lateral expansion of the compression band that may occur will not release the said compression sufficiently-to cause it to fail to prdperly fill up a puncture, when one occurs.

rllhe fabric which Yl use is one having suf cient elasticity so that, as the longitudinal periphery of the tread expands to t the periphery of the tire shoe, the fabric will stretch and not break transversely. Un the other hand, it is desirable to have as little elasticity to the said compression band transversely as may be. I find Sea Island canvas to be a fabric which complies with these conditions.

The rubber in the portion of the tire opposite the tread portion, being unrestrained by the compression band, lmay stretch, if necessary, so that the inner tube may completely iill the cross-section of the tire shoe.

The running of the edges .of the compres* sion band diagonally. through the thickened rubber of the tread has a number of important advantages: l find, by eXperience,` that tires of this type tend to crack along the edge of the compression band as the tire flattens under its load, and such craclr will not only result in the breaking of the band away from the rubbeigrbut inthe cracking of the rubber through,so as to ruin the tire.

By extending the edges of the compression band more'than half way through the thiclrcned tread, such edges pass 'from a zone of tension toe Zone of compression, so' to speak, where the rubber'tends to hug the edge of the band and not to pull away lfrom it. These zones of compression and tension are formed by the Hattening of the tube by what might be termed a hinging action. at the" sides of the tire, due to the weightgof the vehicle. Thepassing of the band diagonally through the -thiclrenedurubber of' the tread 4makesa long diagonal joint between the rubber and the fabric on each side, which is Aone of great strength. llf the fabric passed radially through the rubben, the surface adhesion between the fabric and rubber would be so slight that the twdwould be 100 y readily pulled apart. The diagonal joint, however, so greatly increases the adhesive surface that thegjoint is greatly strengthcned and the surfaces lie at a more advantageous angle to resist the pull of separa- 105 ber together under high compression, and 1lb asv to prevent a wave in the rubberl readily traveling downward away from the tread.

As the compression band does not extend continuously from'inside to outside of the rubber, the fibersv of the fabric cannot form conduits, throught, which the air would other- 1 ,wise escape. l

When the outer surface of the'compression band is covered with rubber, it is protected from wear against the'interior of the shoe, as would lotherwise be the case.

l. preferably make the compression band narrow enough to allow an ample portion A of the rubber tube to take car'e of any lateral expansion that may be required.

My tirey has the inner periphery, which lies against the rim `of the wheel, sufficientlyshorter than the periphery of the tread Qf 'the tire 'so that n0 buckling of said rst mentioned portion can occur, when the tire 1s placed on a wheel.

.By the statement in the claims the strains between. the edges 'of saidfabric and the rubber being transverse to the body of the fabric is meant to express the avoidance of a straight-away pull between the edge of the fabric and rubber such as'would occur if a rubber tube having a thickened tread, i

the outer surface of the tube.

By theterm integral appearing in the claims, is meant not'hayinga joint formed by cementing or hot vulcanizinglaps of the belly after the tread has beenylllcani'zed.

Iclaim: l. A tube for pneumatic tires, comprising fabric substantially covering the portion of said tread exposed to puncture and holding such portion in compression, Asaidijrfabrifc throughout its surface being attached `'to said tread, said tube having'an integral por# tion of unrestrained rubber between and in# Vtegral with the edges of the tread to permit cross-sectional expansion of said tire.

, 2. A tube for pneumatic tires, comprising a rubberv tube having a thickened tread, fabric substantially covering and` holding such portion in compression, such fabric throughout its surface being attaphed to said tread, said tube having `a portion of unrestrained rubber 'between and integral with the edges of the tread to permit lcross-sectional expansion of said tube, said portion of unrestrained rubber being not substan` tially less than'tone-third the circumference lof the tire.

3. A tube for pneumatic tires, comprising a rubber tube having a thickened tread, fabric substantially covering the portion of said ,tread exposed to puncture and holding such portion in compression, said fabric throughoutits surface being attached to said tread and Ahaving itsedges buried in said tread, said thickened portion of' saidV tread extending beyond and inclosing said edges.

4. A pneumatic tire comprising a rubber tube having a thickenedtread, a'strip of fabric embedded Ain saidt-read, the body of said fabric lying near the outer periphery of said tread, and the edges of said fabric eX- tending diagonally toward the inner periphery of said tread.

5.- A pneumatic tire comprising a rubber tube having ya thickened tread, a strip of fabric secured to the 'outer` portionof said tread, and. having its edges extended diag-l onally inward through the material of said tube, said tube having a portion between the edges of said fabric of unrestrained rubber tread more than half its thickness and into rubber compressed by flattening of the tire.

7 A tube for pneumatic tires, comprising a 'rubber tube having athickened tread, fabric substantially covering the portion of said tread exposed to puncture' and holding such lportiorrin compression, said fabric throughout its surface being attached to said tread, Said tube having a portion of unrestrained i rubber between the edges of the tread to permitr cross-sectional. expansion ofv said tube,

the strains betweenthe edges of said fabric and the rubber being transverse to the body 100 of the fabric.

ln testimony that I claim the foregoing I have hereunto set my hand.

JOHN H. BROWN.

Witnesses: n

EDWIN J. PRINDLE, SAMUEL SCHWARTZMAN. 

